Report: Heat believe LeBron James told players not to join them

LeBron James is putting the pressure on the Cleveland Cavaliers to improve their team. And the best way to improve their team in the present is to move the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round draft pick that the Cavs acquired in the Kyrie Irving deal.

But, perhaps, there is another motivation to James wanting to get the Cavs to move the Brooklyn pick.

During the Tuesday episode of his radio show, Miami-based ESPN radio host and journalist Dan LeBatard talked about the drama surrounding the Cavaliers.

According to LeBatard, the Heat believe that James actively tried to sabotage potential Heat signings in the summer of 2014 when he went back to Cleveland.

“Here’s the other thing that the Miami Heat believe: that when LeBron decided to get out of here, he was actively playing defense against their ability to get anybody,” LeBatard said. “They thought they had Pau Gasol locked up and then LeBron got some texts to Pau Gasol and next thing you know Pau Gasol is going somewhere else. The Miami Heat thought he was actively playing defense because he wanted to leave the organization worse than he found it. That was a belief of the Miami Heat that LeBron James was trying to harm the Miami Heat and in this particular case, it’s what you’re talking about, taking away the Nets pick from them.”

Kevin Love has been too good when healthy to move him and it would likely be a non-starter for teams to trade for someone who won’t be back until the final two weeks of the regular season. Jae Crowder may be their most movable player but that would compromise a Cavaliers defense that is already one of the worst in the league.

This is where we see some Keeping Up With The Kavs drama seeping into their basketball predicament.

The petty battle between James and Gilbert is continuing to play itself out. James won’t commit and many people close to the team, like ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, suggest he’s not playing his hardest. Could he be trying to pressure Gilbert into trading the pick so that its gone no matter what James does this summer, thus making a rebuild more taxing? And could Gilbert simply hold on to the pick out of personal pride rather than trying to win?

But this much is clear: this particular power struggle on Keeping Up With The Kavs will affect the team for years to come, one way or another.

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